How to execute a method periodically from WPF client application using threading or timer [closed]

Question

I am developing a WPF client application.This app sends data periodically to the webservice. When user logged into the app I want run particular method every 5 mts to send data to the .asmx service.

My question is whether I need to use threading or timer.This method execution should happen while user is interacting with the application. i.e without blocking the UI during this method execution

Any resources to look for ?

Answer 1

I would recommend the System.Threading.Tasks namespace using the new async/await keywords.

// The `onTick` method will be called periodically unless cancelled.
private static async Task RunPeriodicAsync(Action onTick,
                                           TimeSpan dueTime, 
                                           TimeSpan interval, 
                                           CancellationToken token)
{
  // Initial wait time before we begin the periodic loop.
  if(dueTime > TimeSpan.Zero)
    await Task.Delay(dueTime, token);

  // Repeat this loop until cancelled.
  while(!token.IsCancellationRequested)
  {
    // Call our onTick function.
    onTick?.Invoke();

    // Wait to repeat again.
    if(interval > TimeSpan.Zero)
      await Task.Delay(interval, token);       
  }
}

Then you would just call this method somewhere:

private void Initialize()
{
  var dueTime = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5);
  var interval = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5);

  // TODO: Add a CancellationTokenSource and supply the token here instead of None.
  RunPeriodicAsync(OnTick, dueTime, interval, CancellationToken.None);
}

private void OnTick()
{
  // TODO: Your code here
}